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My Name Is Rachel Corrie

Discussion in 'Entertainment and Technology' started by tinkerbell, Apr 8, 2007.

  1. tinkerbell

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    (No, MY name is not Rachel Corrie, it's the name of a play).

    Rachel Corrie, for many of you on here who most likely do not know, was a peace activist. When she died, her family made a play about what she had done. The play has a cast of one, the actress who portrays Rachel Corrie. It is crafted from her diary, her writings and e-mails she sent to her family. My mom and I went to see the play, and we were given a playbill with a half-sheet that explains everything:

    "Rachel Corrie, 1979-2003. On March 16 2003, an Israeli solider driving a military bulldozer crushed Rachel Corrie to death while she was trying to protect a Palestinian home from illegal demolition. The bulldozer was a Caterpillar D-9, made in the USA. Seven eyewitnesses to Rachel's death have reported she was visible to the bulldozer driver because of her bright orange vest and her high position on the mound of earth in front of him. Though the Israeli occupation forces, investigating themselves, declared the event an 'accident,' the US state department has said that the investigation was neither transparent nor credible.

    Rachel Corrie was working with the International Solidarity Movement to End the Occupation (ISM), a nonviolent Palestinian-led campaign to resist the illegal military occupation that Israel has imposed on the West Bank and Gaza since 1967. In the occupied territories, over 3 million Palestinians live with no freedom of speech, assembly or movement; they can be arrested and imprisoned without charge or trial; they are routinely tortured in prison; they can be expelled from the country for no reason; and their farmland and homes are routinely confiscated and demolished to make room for illegal Israeli settlements and Israeli-only access roads. Since September 2000, over 4400 Palestinians have been killed and over 15,000 have been made homeless by Israeli military action.

    Rachel's accounts of destruction in Rafah correspond with the descriptions and conclusions of respected third party organizations like Humans Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The Israeli government has never accused Samir or Khaled Nasrallah, the owners of the home Rachel died defending, or their wives or children of links to terrorism, nor found traces of a weapon-smuggling tunnel. While the ISM is strictly involved in non-violent resistance, there have been accusations that it has supported terrorism. The FBI doesn't consider the ISM to be a terrorist organization, nor does any other government agency in the US or abroad. The Israeli government has not declared ISM an illegal organization and has failed to prove any connection between terrorist activity and ISM's work. The ISM continues to work with several groups who advocate for a just peace in Palestine, including Rabbis for Human Rights, the Christian Peacemakers Team, International Women's Peace Service and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions."

    On the last page of the playbill acknowledgements are made that the play was a one-sided, biased account of what happened in Gaza and that the other side needs to be heard. I know this, but I connected with the onstage portrayal of Rachel Corrie. Everyone around me cried at the end of the play. I didn't, but I felt sad. Rachel Corrie's parents talked to the audience after the play, which made my mom cry harder. The play is or has been performing in London, Seattle (USA), and New York (USA) from what I know. I hope it will move to a DVD so everyone worldwide can see it, and I hope the other side of Rachel Corrie's death, the other POV, will be exposed as well.

    Has anyone else heard of or seen the play?
     
  2. joeyconnick

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    I haven't heard of it or seen it but it sounds pretty powerful.

    The Israel/Palestine conflict is such a complete mess... to me it's just like the Catholic/Protestant conflict in Northern Ireland. How can outsiders (non-Jews/non-Muslims, non-Catholics/non-Protestants) hope to understand it and figure out how to help solve it? Everything is so incredibly polarised and these conflicts are generational--how can you expect people who have lost family to be able to concede anything? And then it all gets manipulated and played by other nations for their own personal gain. It's really terrifying.
     
  3. tinkerbell

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    It is very sad to think about, and I don't know what a lot of us can do but spread the message, I guess.